Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is a colorless and highly flammable gas produced in mining, oil and gas refining, and paper and pulp processing. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate H2S caused 60 worker deaths between 2001 and 2010. The effects on workers' health depend on how much of the gas workers breathe but symptoms can range from headaches, nausea and fatigue to respiratory tract irritation, unconsciousness and death.
OSHA to Update Standard on Accident Prevention Signs and Tags in Construction
The standard requires that signs and symbols be visible at all times to warn workers of existing hazards when work is being performed. The updates are based on revisions in the American National Standards Institute consensus standards. For more information, see OSHA's existing Accident Prevention Signs and Tags standard.
The committee will also consider proposed amendments and corrections to OSHA's Cranes and Derricks standards.
ACCSH, established under the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, advises the secretary of labor and assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health on construction standards and policy matters.
The meeting will be held from 1–4 p.m. in Room N-3437 A-C, US Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20210. Committee members outside of the Washington, D.C. area will participate over the phone. The meeting is open to the public.
OSHA's General Industry and Construction Digests Spell Out OSHA standards
The two digests contain summaries of OSHA standards that are frequently cited or cover particular hazardous situations in general industry and construction. The General Industry Digest includes updated information on revisions to General Industry standards since the digest was last published in 2001.
How to Implement OSHA’s Globally Harmonized Hazard Communication Standard (GHS)
OSHA has issued a final rule revising its Hazard Communication Standard, aligning it with the United Nations’ globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals. This means that virtually every product label, safety data sheet (formerly called “material safety data sheet” or MSDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard. Worker training must be updated so that workers can recognize and understand the symbols and pictograms on the new labels as well as the new hazard statements and precautions on SDSs.
Charleston RCRA, DOT, and IATA/IMO Training
Jacksonville RCRA and DOT Training
San Antonio RCRA and DOT Training
Norfolk Southern Railway Co. Ordered to Pay $1.1 Million after Terminating Three Workers for Reporting Injuries
Norfolk Southern Railway Co., has been ordered to pay $1,121,099 to three workers following an investigation by OSHA, which found that the company violated the whistleblower provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act. Two investigations, conducted by OSHA staff in Chicago and Pittsburgh, found that three employees were wrongfully fired for reporting workplace injuries. In addition to monetary remedies, the company has been ordered to expunge the disciplinary records of the three whistleblowers, post a notice regarding employees' whistleblower protection rights under the FRSA and train workers on these rights.
Railroad carriers are subject to the FRSA, which protects employees who report violations of any federal law, rule, or regulation relating to railroad safety or security, or who engage in other protected activities.
"The Labor Department continues to find serious whistleblower violations at Norfolk Southern, and we will be steadfast in our defense of a worker's right to a safe job—including his or her right to report injuries," said acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris. "When workers can't report safety concerns on the job without fear of retaliation, worker safety and health suffer, which costs working families and businesses alike."
One investigation involved a crane operator based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who was removed from service after reporting an eye injury requiring the extraction of a sliver of metal and rust ring from his eye. The injury occurred while he was operating a crane in support of a bridge-building operation in Albany, Indiana. The employee was taken out of service and formally terminated on August 24, 2010, after an internal investigation determined he had made false statements concerning the injury.
OSHA's investigation concluded that the worker would not have been terminated if he had not reported the injury. The agency has ordered the railroad to pay him a total of $437,591.70 in damages, which includes $100,000 in compensatory damages for pain and suffering, $175,000 in punitive damages, and $156,518.94 in back wages and benefits. It also includes compensation of $6,072.76 to the crane operator for penalties incurred when he had to cash in savings bonds prior to their maturity date after being terminated. In addition to damages, the company has been ordered to pay reasonable attorney fees. Further, OSHA has ordered the railroad to reinstate the worker to the proper seniority level, with vacation and sick days that he would otherwise have earned.
OSHA's second investigation involved a thermite welder and a welder's helper based in western Pennsylvania. Both employees had worked at the railroad for more than 36 years without incident when they reported injuries sustained as a result of an accident caused by another vehicle that ran a red light and hit a second vehicle, which in turn collided with the company truck in which they were riding.
The employees initially reported minor shoulder area pain plus some stiffness and soreness. Later, when questioned by management, they initially declined medical treatment, but as the pain increased, sought and received treatment at a local hospital. They were then taken out of service pending an investigative hearing and formally terminated. Management concluded that the employees' reports about their condition were false and conflicting and constituted misconduct.
OSHA's investigation found that the employees were terminated for reporting injuries to management. The agency has ordered the railroad to pay them $683,508 in damages, including $300,000 in punitive damages; $233,508 in lost wages, benefits and out-of-pocket costs; and $150,000 in compensatory damages for pain and suffering. Interest on back pay due will accrue daily until the employees are paid. In addition to damages, the company has been ordered to pay reasonable attorney fees.
These actions follow several other orders issued by OSHA against Norfolk Southern Railway Co., in the past two years. OSHA's investigations have found that the company continues to retaliate against employees for reporting work-related injuries, and these actions have effectively created a chilling effect in the railroad industry.
"The Labor Department's responsibility is to protect all employees, including those in the railroad industry, from retaliation for exercising these basic worker rights," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. Railroad workers must be able to report work-related injuries without fear of retaliation."
Norfolk Southern Railway Co., is a major transporter/hauler of coal and other commodities, serving every major container port in the eastern United States with connections to western carriers. Its headquarters are in Norfolk, Virginia, and it employs more than 30,000 union workers worldwide.
Any party to these cases can file an appeal with the Labor Department's Office of Administrative Law Judges within 30 days of receipt of the findings.
On July 16, 2012, OSHA and the US Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration signed a memorandum of agreement to facilitate coordination and cooperation for enforcing the FRSA's whistleblower provisions. Between August 2007, when OSHA was assigned responsibility for whistleblower complaints under the FRSA, and September 2012, OSHA received more than 1,200 FRSA whistleblower complaints. The number of whistleblower complaints that OSHA currently receives under the FRSA surpasses the number it receives under any of the other 21 whistleblower protection statutes it enforces except for Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. More than 60% of the FRSA complaints filed with OSHA involve an allegation that a railroad worker has been retaliated against for reporting an on-the-job injury.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the FRSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, worker safety, public transportation agency, maritime, and securities laws. Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government.
Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program.
Union Pacific Railroad Ordered to Pay More than $309,000 for Violating the Federal Railroad Safety Act
OSHA has found that Union Pacific Railroad Co., in Pocatello, Idaho, violated the whistle-blower protection provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act and has ordered the railroad to pay more than $309,000 in back wages, benefits, damages, and reasonable attorney's fees to a conductor after determining retaliation for reporting a co-worker's work-related injury.
"This current order follows three other orders issued by the department against Union Pacific Railroad in the past 13 months," said Dean Ikeda, OSHA's regional administrator in Seattle. "OSHA's investigations have found that the railroad continues to retaliate against employees for reporting work-related injuries."
OSHA determined that Union Pacific Railroad retaliated against a locomotive conductor who reported a work-related injury suffered by a train engineer while they were both traveling between Idaho and Wyoming on July 24, 2009. The injury occurred when the train engineer banged his elbow against a steel armrest that was missing padding. The conductor notified his employer that the armrest was defective and that its hazardous condition caused a fellow employee to be injured. The railroad fired the conductor.
"Retaliating against workers for reporting safety hazards is completely unacceptable and, more importantly, illegal," said Ikeda. "When workers are discouraged from reporting injuries, the cause of an injury goes uninvestigated and could continue to put other workers at risk."
OSHA's investigation found that the conductor was terminated for reporting a work-related injury. The agency has ordered the railroad to pay $150,000 in punitive damages, $87,599 in compensatory damages for emotional distress, $71,708 in back pay with interest and reasonable attorney's fees to the conductor. Additionally, the railroad was ordered to post a notice to employees about whistle-blower rights.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad operates in 23 states and employs more than 40,000 workers nationwide, including an estimated 900 at the Pocatello facility.
Highway Technologies Placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program
OSHA has cited Highway Technologies, Inc., in Minneapolis for 10 safety—including six willful—violations after a worker died from injuries sustained while working with equipment that came into contact with overhead power lines on I-94 near Menomonie, Wisconsin.
The company was performing guard rail and sign installation for a 13-mile stretch of I-94 in western Wisconsin under contract with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation when the incident occurred on September 17, 2012. Citations have been issued for six instance-by-instance willful violations of failing to ensure that parts of the equipment being operated were not within 10 feet of a power line, exposing workers to electrical shock and electrocution hazards. These citations also include instances of failing to ensure that any part of the machinery was not within 6 feet of an overhead power line while the machinery was traveling beneath the power lines. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.
"Highway Technologies failed to protect its workers from serious electrocution hazards," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "Multiple instances of the same violation over a period of time clearly demonstrate a willful failure to comply with basic safety and health standards. Employers must take steps to eliminate hazards and provide a safe working environment."
Due to the nature of the hazards and the violations cited, Highway Technologies, Inc., has been placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure future compliance with the law. OSHA's program focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations.
Four serious violations also cited include failing to identify electrical work zones, determine if any part of the equipment being operated would be closer than 20 feet of a power line, train each worker on safe clearance distances from power lines, and evaluate that each employee understood the training and risks of working near overhead power lines. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Highway Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Houston, employs about 1,500 workers in 13 states installing highway guardrails, crash attenuators, barrier walls, and signage. Prior to this investigation, the company had been inspected by OSHA 10 times since 2007, resulting in citations for nine serious violations. One of these inspections was initiated based on employee injuries sustained from contacting an overhead power line while installing a highway sign.
Proposed penalties for citations issued following this current investigation total $448,000.
OSHA Cites Export Fuel Co. with 18 Serious Safety Violations Following Worker Fatality
OSHA has cited Export Fuel Co., with 18 serious safety violations following the death of a worker who was crushed by a pavement roller in August 2012 at the company's Export facility.
"Training workers to recognize and address hazards is essential, and Export Fuel failed to train its workers on the operation and maintenance of the pavement roller, which ultimately led to a worker's death," said Christopher Robinson, director of the OSHA Pittsburgh Area Office. "It is the employer's responsibility to provide a safe workplace by finding and fixing hazards, so all workers are protected."
The serious violations include fall and electrical hazards, lack of machine and equipment guarding, lack of energy control procedures, the company's failure to provide employee training in the maintenance and operation of construction vehicles, and a safe exit and means of egress.
Proposed penalties total $41,300. Export Fuel has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director in Pittsburgh, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA Cites Two Missouri Companies Following Worker's Death
OSHA has cited Coatings Unlimited, Inc., in Bridgeton with a total of 14 safety violations from an August 2012 incident in which a worker overcome by exposure to methyl ethyl ketone collapsed and died inside an 18-foot-deep vault manhole during construction of the Boschertown sanitary sewer lift station. St. Louis-based KCI Construction Co., Inc., the project's general contractor, was also cited with one serious violation.
"Employers have a responsibility to take all necessary steps to eliminate hazards from the workplace and to ensure workers are given the proper training to conduct required tasks. Workers should be provided with the appropriate personal protective equipment to limit exposure to hazardous chemicals," said Charles Adkins, OSHA's regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. "It is tragic that one employee lost his life during this construction project."
The three willful Coatings Unlimited violations include failing to implement safety precautions prior to assigning an employee work in six separate confined spaces, test the confined space for atmospheric conditions prior to and during entry, and control exposure to methyl ethyl ketone through the use of engineering controls, such as ventilation, to ensure workers did not exceed the permissible exposure limit.
Coatings Unlimited was also cited with 10 serious violations, five for violating OSHA's respiratory protection standards, including failing to provide work site procedures to protect employees when an atmospheric condition existed in a confined space; provide a knowledgeable person as a respirator program administrator manager; provide medical evaluations to all employees using respirators; and provide annual respirator training and maintain respirator fit-test training records. The remaining violations involve failing to provide proper chemical-resistant gloves for methyl ethyl ketone use; provide training on the hazards of chemicals used in the workplace or on confined space hazards; provide fire extinguishers on scene for use when flammable liquids were in use; and provide adequate use of portable extension ladders as a means of egress from a confined space.
Coatings Unlimited was also issued one other-than-serious citation for failing to label storage tanks with signage to identify chemical hazards. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
KCI Construction was cited with one serious violation for failing to conduct frequent and regular inspections of the job site material and equipment by a competent person and train workers to recognize unsafe confined space conditions.
Due to the nature of the hazards and the violations cited, OSHA has placed Coatings Unlimited, Inc., in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. OSHA's SVEP focuses on recalcitrant employers who endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations.
Proposed penalties for Coatings Unlimited total $224,000 and for KCI Construction, $5,600.
Wright Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Fined $46,000 for 17 Health and Safety Violations
OSAH has cited Covenant Care Ohio, Inc., which operates the Wright Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Fairborn, with 17 alleged health and safety violations for failing to train workers who care for nursing home residents on bloodborne pathogen hazards and provide a written exposure control plan. The December 2012 inspection, conducted under OSHA's nursing home initiative in response to a complaint, resulted in proposed penalties of $46,000.
"Companies that operate care facilities with the potential to expose employees to bloodborne pathogens have a responsibility to conduct the proper training in procedures to protect workers and clients from biological hazards," said Bill Wilkerson, OSHA's area director in Cincinnati. "Employers must train their workers to recognize hazards that exist in their workplace and in appropriate response procedures."
Thirteen serious violations of OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standards were cited, including not providing a confidential medical evaluation and follow-up for an employee needle stick injury; lack of employee training; not maintaining the confidentiality of employee medical records; failing to consider safe needle devices in the annual review of the exposure control plan; and failing to provide the hepatitis B vaccination series to employees.
Four other-than-serious violations were also cited at the facility, including lack of record keeping, not providing an emergency eyewash station, and two violations of hazard communication standards.
Covenant Care, Inc., based in Aliso Viejo, California, operates skilled nursing care and assisted living centers in California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, and Ohio.
Wolff Construction Exposes Workers to Falls and Other Hazards, Pays Fine
OSHA has cited Wolff Construction, LP, with nine serious safety violations for exposing workers to fall hazards following a complaint inspection that began in October 2012 when workers were erecting concrete steel forms of heights up to 15 feet without wearing the required fall protection equipment at a San Marcos, Texas, work site on North Fredericksburg Street. Proposed penalties total $46,000.
OSHA's Austin Area Office cited Wolff Construction for failing to provide the required personal protective equipment when working at heights of 6 feet or higher, train employees working on the leading edge of elevated surfaces on fall protection, ensure rigging equipment is inspected, ensure work areas are clear of debris, use safe lifting practices with an all-terrain forklift and guard reinforcing steel to eliminate impalement hazards.
"A lack of fall protection means workers are one slip or step away from deadly or disabling falls," said Casey Perkins, OSHA's area director in Austin. "Employers must provide effective fall protection for their workers and ensure these workers are trained to recognize and address fall hazards."
The page offers fact sheets, posters and videos that vividly illustrate various fall hazards and appropriate preventive measures. OSHA standards require that an effective form of fall protection, such as guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems, be in use when workers perform construction activities 6 feet or more above the next lower level.
Drilling Company Fined Following Worker Injuries after Gas Well Fire
OSHA has cited Ellenboro-based Hall Drilling, LLC, with two serious safety violations found at a Wolf Summit drill site. OSHA's inspection, part of the agency's regional emphasis program for the oil and gas industry, followed a gas well fire in August 2012 that injured three workers. Proposed penalties total $12,600.
"The hazardous nature of oil and gas drilling operations requires employers to find and fix the hazards. In this case, ensuring the use of proper personal protective equipment, such as flame-resistant clothing, could have helped in protecting the workers," said Prentice Cline, director of OSHA's Charleston Area Office.
The serious violations include failing to ensure the use of flame-retardant clothing from flash fires and burns and to ensure workers were not exposed to fire and gas explosions from uncontrolled gas flow at the well bore.
Hall Drilling, which performs natural gas and oil well drilling, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director in Charleston, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Safety News Links